Kuha'o Received A Standing Ovation Tonight!!

Today has been such a great day and I can't close my eyes and go to bed without telling you a little about what happened even though it's almost 2am. Kuha'o had an incredible experience tonight in Salt Lake City, something that will be remembered for a very long time by those who were present.

Let's backtrack to last night when we got some news that Kuha'o could possibly play in a concert with a Utah musician named Peter Breinholt. We weren't positive that it was a for sure thing but we prepared things so that we could take off from Logan the next morning which happens to be about an hour and a half drive from Salt Lake where this concert would be held. To make a long story short, we ended up leaving Logan a little after 12 this afternoon and came down here to Salt Lake with hopes that Kuha'o would be able to perform at this concert. We would need to get it approved by Peter Breinholt and that would be done at a sound check before the concert when Peter could watch Kuha'o play.

When we got to Salt Lake we went to Daynes Music and thanked them for helping us out by getting a concert Steinway piano to the venue where the concert would be held. While we were there, Kuha'o walked around the showroom touching different pianos and feeling their differences. These pianos were Steinways so they were very nice, and he sat down at one of them and played a couple songs. It sounded so good and we were excited because we were told that the piano that was at the concert venue was the newer concert piano, so it was even nicer than the one Kuha'o was playing in the show room! The piano at the shop he sat down at retails $136,000! Dang! We were in for a treat, but we still had to get the approval from the musician that was headlining the show.

We left that beautiful showroom of pianos and headed to downtown SLC to the venue. We got there in time for Kuha'o to play a few songs and get a feel for the piano before Peter Breinholt showed up. When Peter showed up, Kuha'o was so excited to shake his hand and even more excited to play a song for him. I asked Kuah'o if he wanted to play Peter "What About" which is a song that Peter wrote and Kuha'o got a big grin on his face as he put his hands into position. I told Peter that i had played the original version of the song for Kuha'o the night before probably a total of 3 times. You could tell that everyone that was there was interested to see how this was going to turn out, but i just grinned because i already knew. That's what i've been doing with Kuah'o the past week, playing him new songs a couple times and having him repeat them on the piano. It's something that continues to blow me away, which is what this song did! Kuha'o started playing and Peter actually started singing as he leaned on the piano looking at the 15 year old shining star. He sang the whole song while Kuha'o played the piano and after finishing, Peter was amazed. He said that Kuha'o nailed the song with the bridges and everything! He then asked Kuha'o if he'd like to be invited out of the audience during the show to accompany him on the piano for that song. Of course Kuha'o said yes and we were all so thrilled!

Kuha'o ended up playing 20-30 minutes on the piano as people filed in before the concert and it was fun seeing peoples reactions as they watched him play and it was amazing seeing Kuha'o sitting at such an amazing and beautiful piano. He had a ton of fun playing it.

Peter Breinholt took the stage after that and we enjoyed a wonderful night of music, Peter always puts on a great show. The time finally arrived when Peter invited Kuha'o back up on the stage to accompany him. I lead Kuha'o up there and he sat down at the piano as Peter told the crowd that he had decided during the sound check that he wanted Kuha'o to play "What About" with him. He then told everyone that Kuha'o had only heard the song about 3 times last night and that Kuha'o was confident that 3 times was all that it would take. What happened next brought tears to my eyes, Kuha'o played as if he had practiced this song with Peter dozens of times. How cool is that? Peter had never rehearsed with Kuha'o besides singing the song with him at the sound check and he gives this blind 15 year old boy the go ahead to accompany him in front of a large crowd of people! I could have listened to them repeat that song over and over again, it was that good. As the last notes of the song filled the air, they were drowned out the whole crowd of people standing on their feet applauding and cheering. Peter said in the microphone, "If you could see this Kuha'o, the whole crowd is giving you a standing ovation!" I lead Kuha'o to the center of the stage where he bowed, and his grin stretched from ear to ear. The emotion that Kuha'o put into that song was touching and it sounded so good and people were touched. Once again i found myself thinking how lucky i am to be able to watch this all unfold! The doors are starting to open up for Kuha'o!

After the concert we were touched by the kind words and support from people in attendance. I kept hearing people use the word "AMAZING" when describing Kuha'o's ability. It truly is an amazing gift that he possesses, one that will grow and develop over time. This is just the beginning!

Comments

Andy, thank you so much for this update and for all you are doing to help Kuha'o realize his full potential. He is truly a gift to us all and I am so grateful to know you and your family as well as Kuha'o and his wonderful family...love to you all